Abner Butler

Abner Butler was a general of the United States. Serving as the commander of the US Dragoons, Butler was a veteran of the American Indian Wars and was also a general during the American Civil War of 1861-1865.

Biography
Abner Butler was a graduate of the West Point Military Academy, and Butler was appointed as the commander of the 24,000-strong US Dragoons army in the Eureka Valley region of northern California. The army was erroneously seen by a few as a cavalry army, as only the US 1st Cavalry Regiment was cavalry - the rest were the 2nd Cincinnati Infantry Regiment, the 2nd Pittsburgh Infantry Regiment, 3rd Philadelphia Infantry Regiment, 2nd Philadelphia Infantry Regiment, 1st Pittsfield Infantry Regiment, 1st Minot Infantry Regiment, and the 1st Lubbock Infantry Regiment, all regular infantry troops. Butler's army was stationed in the Eureka Valley on the border with southern Oregon, and he combatted American Indians.

At the start of the American Civil War in 1861, he was dispatched to occupy California, which seceded to join the Confederate States. Butler's army defeated the Confederates several times in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Monterey, before occupying the rest of California and moving south into Tennessee. The army ended the war in Georgia, having occupied Atlanta, Savannah, and Augusta so that Sherman's March to the Sea could begin in 1864. After the war, Butler's army returned to its post on the border with British Canada, but its role became less important when the Dominion of Canada gained independence from the United Kingdom as a satellite in 1867.